Face of Australia Glossy Lip Crayon

I'm more into skin care than actual cosmetics but lips are one thing I do pay some attention to.  I have my favourite ever lip liner (I chose wisely once and managed to pick a colour which seems to go with everything) and I have a pretty broad (but in many cases old) collection of lipsticks and lip glosses.

But last week beauty blogger Sarah What posted the most GORGEOUS coloured lip crayon (Face of Australia Glossy Lip in Berry Brulee) on her instagram feed.  At the time I 'liked' it but didn't think any more of it.

Then a day or so later, I thought about it again and remembered that the brand, Face of Australia, wasn't particularly pricey and it was probably worth investigating further.

After a bit of scrolling back through instagram, I found the product and a bit of a google suggested it should be available easily for the bargain price of $8.  The first Priceline I walked into didn't have it (well, if they did I couldn't find it) but I eventually made my way into a BigW where I found it straight away.

I was tempted by a couple of other colours at the same time but prudence won out (it always does): I thought I should see how one performed before investing in many!!!

The colour is great and it builds up easily.  The crayon glides on making it super easy to use.  I haven't used lip liner with it and it doesn't bleed/feather.  It also lasts surprisingly well: even after a couple of cups of tea and something to eat there was still some colour.  And the colour fades nicely - rather than looking like a colour which has worn off it just becomes paler and more subtle.

The one downer for this product is the smell.  It's very pronounced and is a little girl sickly sweet confected berry fruit kind of smell.  Fortunately, it does drop off (or I grow accustomed to it!) quite quickly. If I weren't in love with the colour and performance of this product, I'd find the perfume enough to put me off.

But put off I'm not.  I love this and I might even treat myself to the

Widely available. RRP ~ $8.

Face of Australia.

Source: purchase.

Carmex Lip Balm

My first encounter with Carmex was quite a few years ago when I won a package of beauty goodies.  The tiny little put of Carmex was lucky it didn't get given away because lip glosses/balms are those things that I tend to have a ton of.

Anyway, I didn't give it away and I'm glad I didn't because Carmex absolutely rocks.   Texture wise it is almost like lanolin and it contains salicylic acid which helps smooth your lips (but also makes it feel really tingly when it goes on).  There's nothing fancy about Carmex:  it's unscented and I suspect it's also not coloured.

Earlier this year I was on a trial where I received a Carmex stick.  A lot of the time I have very long fingernails, so lotions and potions in pots can prove a little tricky (even though I have perfected the art of scooping stuff out with the back of my nail!).  The Carmex stick removes that hassle, and even if you have short nails - no sticky fingers.

Excellent stuff!

Widely available, price varies on format, but you're looking at about $6.50 for a tub.

Carmex.

Source:  trial sample.